skeptics ask monsanto
TRANSCRIPT
Skeptics Ask Monsanto
MARY MANGAN, PHD@MEM_SOMERVILLE
Delivered at the Boston SkepticsSkeptics in the Pub (SiTP)June 22, 2015
Skeptics ask Questions Posted on discussion forums:
Reddit: http://redd.it/37lorb SGU: http://
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Themes
Biodiversity Patents/Legal/
Monopoly Tech Agreement with Farmers
Safety testing, transparencyNew crops, new tech
Academic Research License
Reputation
Biodiversity
Is all the corn out there one kind of corn? What’s different? Risk of susceptibility to a single pathogen? What do you do about that?
Patents and Legal Issues
Patents ELI5: “explain like I’m 5 years old” Patents on life; seed saving, open source seeds or other off-patented stuff
Patents claiming Nucleic Acid Sequences DOI: 10.1038/nbt.2568
http://bit.ly/BFpatent Top 25 assignees
Nucleic Acid Patent Holders, USNumber granted, total, US gene patents.
Top 25 holders.via doi: 10.1038/nbt.2568
DuPont/Pioneer Hi-BredGlaxoSmithKlineRocheIncytePfizerUniv of CaliforniaIsis PharmaceuticalsMerckNovaritsUS Dept Health & Human ServicesTakeda PharmaceuticalsMonsantoBristol-Myers SquibbSanofi-AventisAmgenHuman Genome SciencesBayerBASFUniv of WashingtonLife TechnologiesInstitut PasteurNovo Nordisk Johns Hopkins UniversityUniversity of TexasEli Lilly
Number of plant gene patents via doi: 10.1038/nbt.2568
DuPont/Pi-oneerMonsantoBASFUniv of CABayerUniv of WANovartisPfizerSanofi-AventisJohns HopkinsUS DHHSUniv
CAUS HHS
Technology Agreement
Tech agreement, seed saving Farmer shared his tech agreement: thefarmerslife.com/biotechnology/i-occupy-our-food-supply-everyday
Suing farmers, affecting neighbors, co-existence, off-patent seeds
Monopoly and Reputation
Academic Research License
Academic research agreements Is this posted somewhere? Stories in 2009 like this SciAM one
New crops, new technologies
Other types of tech Consumer traits Allergen removal
Safety Testing, Transparency
www.monsanto.com/newsviews/pages/food-safety-science.aspx
www.monsanto.com/products/pages/safety-technical-information.aspx
Shill Shirts?
Highest rated question at the r/skeptic thread
Other questions?